Coming Exhibition: Andrea Rubin Kichaven, Suki Kuss, Joe Pinkelman

May 21 - June 15, 2013
 

Featuring:

Andrea Rubin Kichaven, Suki Kuss, and Joe Pinkelman

Opening Reception:

Saturday, May 25, 2013, 5-8 p.m.

Artist Talk:

Saturday, June 8, 2013, 3-4 p.m.

Textured Terrain, Andrea Rubin Kichaven

Andrea Rubin Kichaven, La Vida Pasa, Mixed Media, 36 x 36 in., 2013

In her current exhibition, Andrea Rubin Kichaven juxtaposes representational animals within fanciful terrains. Layering color through a variety of techniques, Kichaven incorporates tactile patterns created by found materials such as lace, stencils and templates, mark-making, collage, and acrylics to develop colorfully textured landscapes. “What makes me passionate about each piece on which I work are the immediacy of my personal feelings, the colors, and the textures,” says Kichaven. “In the process of experimentation and unknown possibilities, one image generates another.” Whimsical animal environments are borne out of layer upon layer of color and texture application and removal (addition and subtraction), simultaneously building upon and revealing the visual history of the work beneath.

Haunted Heart, Suki Kuss

Suki Kuss, Sanctuary I (detail), Mixed Media Collage, 36 x 24 in., 2012

The loss of a beloved family member is both shattering and illuminating. In Suki Kuss' new exhibition, Haunted Heart, she explores these emotions, navigating through the aftermath of the suicide of her niece. Kuss’ recent work reflects the darkness and the light that she has worked through in the past year. Incorporating paint with mixed media materials of vintage fabrics, lace, maps, threads, patterns and mirrors on canvas, Kuss’ highly textured work takes viewers through an abstract narrative. “My finished pieces are delicate and intimate,” says Kuss. “They call out to be closely scrutinized.” Layers of details beckon the viewer closer to examine the elegant subtleties within Kuss’ use of abstract line and shape that convey an ongoing search for balance and peace.     

New Work: The Heaven and Hell Series, Joe Pinkelman

Joe Pinkelman, Heaven and Hell #2, Porcelain, 23 x 15 x 15 in., 2012

In his current show, artist Joe Pinkelman continues his exploration of abstract pottery. Using a technique he first developed in Jingdezhen, China, Pinkelman incorporates decals, high-fired porcelain, as well as thrown and press molded forms to create his designs. Fusing modern, often fragmented shapes with ancient Chinese pottery techniques, Pinkelman creates expressive contemporary allegories. “I am interested in imbalance and instability contrasted with beauty and ugliness,” says Pinkelman. The contrasting motifs of life and death, heaven and earth, light and dark pervade Pinkelman’s work as delicate ceramic pottery is placed precariously on pedestals.

Art Story: Carole Garland

King Eddy Saloon, 2013, oil on canvas 40x30"

In my EDGELANDS  series of paintings at TAG Gallery I focused on places that had bad reputations, such as MacArthur Park, Jordan Downs, and Florence & Normandie.  When I read that a former colleague, Dan Fante, was reading his memoir, Fante: A Family”s Legacy of Writing, Drinking and Surviving at the King Eddy Saloon, on the outskirts of Skid Row, I checked it out.

The saloon, on the corner of 5th and Los Angeles, is on the ground floor of the King Edward Hotel, built in 1906.  It was designed and developed by Los Angeles architect John Parkinson, whose work included City Hall and Union Station.  The pre-Prohibition bar is a relic of another time.  John Fante featured the bar in his novel, “Ask the Dust,” later turned into a movie. James M. Cain visited the bar for background on The Postman Always Rings Twice and Charles Bukowski is rumored to have frequented the saloon.
A seedy, fallen angel,  the King Eddy Saloon/King Edward Hotel fit the bill of subjects with a tarnished past and is included in the EDGELANDS series.

Carole's work will be on view at TAG until May 18th

TAG Interview with Brigitte Schobert

Kaleidoscope is Brigitte Schobert's current show at TAG.
On Saturday, May 11, she will be at the gallery to talk about her work.
We asked her a few questions:

This is a very different body of work that you're showing.
Tell us how you came to this.
I did not have a show last year and in the previous show in Sept 2011 most of my work was already non-representational.

Untitled 161, 2012, oil on paper, 26 x 26"

Is this a new way of working or are you returning to media that you used in the past?
For the "oil on paper" I still use a printmaking procedure and apply the oil paint by means of an etching press. However, it is a process that I developed for myself and it is different from the traditional way of printmaking.
     
What is your process?
In my acrylic painting I apply a lot of unorthodox means as well, like sponges, sponge cloth, rags, sand and the like and sometimes combine printing and painting.

Untitled 172, 2012, acrylic on Canvas, 30 x 20"

How do you decide on your color palette?
I am trying not to get hung up on similar colors. For example after a picture with blue I want to make a painting where red or yellow prevails. It is only the direction in general and might be modified while the painting is developed.

How do you know when a work is finished?
A painting is finished when the the picture does not "speak" to me anymore. Even when I don't paint I put my picture in a position where I can see it, because I walk by many times from different directions. Often I know something is still missing, but not quite what it is. I wait until I know. Whenever a picture does not create the feeling it still needs something, it is considered finished and stowed away.

What is the biggest challenge that you face as an artist?
Every new picture is a challenge and a struggle, sometimes the way is more twisted than other times, but it is never straight. I do not work from a preconceived sketch or model, but develop the image step by step and make new decisions at every step. This way I never know how, where and when it ends and there are always surprises.

Brigitte's work can be seen at TAG until May 18.
Her artist talk is May 11.